I n the Coen brothers’ The Big Lebowski the hero, who calls himself “The Dude,” has just had his apartment broken into by some dumb thugs. One of the thugs lifts the Dude’s prized bowling ball and says, “What . . . is this?” The Dude replies, “Obviously you are not a golfer.” The current state of the NIH prompts me to say to its director, Dr. Elias Zerhouni, “Obviously you are not a scientist.”